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Parks department unveils draft five‑year master plan, 75-step action plan to guide investments
Summary
Bloomington Parks and Recreation presented a draft master plan and a 75‑item strategic action plan focused on community impact, investing in existing assets, financial sustainability and staff capacity; staff will take feedback and return in May for adoption.
Tim Street, director of Bloomington Parks and Recreation, and consultant Jamie Sapach presented the department’s draft master plan and an attached strategic action plan at the board’s April meeting.
The draft lays out four priorities — community impact; invest in what we have; financial sustainability; and a strong, connected staff — and 75 actions intended to guide work over the next five years. Sapach said the plan is the product of broad public and staff engagement, a conditions assessment (including Brian Park and Mills pools), a financial‑sustainability review and a provider inventory.
The presentation emphasized implementation: each action in the strategic action plan is assigned a staff lead, a prioritization (high/medium/low), an estimated resource requirement and an anticipated timeline. Sapach told the board that the action plan will be reviewed annually to keep it responsive to changing conditions.
Director Street said the draft is intended to be a living document and that staff will return to the board in May with a version ready for formal adoption after addressing accessibility and any board feedback. He also noted staff are preparing a financial‑sustainability policy that will be brought forward separately for work‑session discussion and potential adoption.
The draft includes five supplemental reports: a comprehensive engagement summary, a community survey report, a pool conditions assessment, a financial sustainability strategy and a providers‑network inventory that catalogues local nonprofit and private recreation providers. Sapach said these supplements informed the priorities and the recommended actions.
Board members did not raise substantive objections during the presentation; one editorial correction was noted (the presentation referred incorrectly to “University of Indiana,” which staff pledged to change to Indiana University). The board advised staff to collect any remaining data and return in May for potential adoption. The department encouraged written questions or comments prior to that meeting.
Next steps: staff will address accessibility remediation on the draft, finalize outstanding data for the annual report supplements, incorporate board feedback, and present the master plan for adoption at the May meeting.
